Japan · Akita

Hanawa Ski Area

花輪スキー場
14 / 100 Powder Score
No Snow Weather Partly cloudy
Official site

Not open yet for 2026/27. We have not yet found an official opening date. The snowfall below is a model figure and does not mean the slopes are skiable.

Base depth
1cm
Snow 48h
0cm
Next 72h
0cm

A weather-model figure, worked out the same way for every ski area, and lower than what actually falls. Use it to compare ski areas, not against the resort’s own totals. How we measure →

Snow 24h
0 cm
Next 24h
0 cm
Temperature
0°C
Max wind
9 km/h
Elevation
256–744 m
Across
1.6 km

This season so far (1 Nov to 9 Nov): 9 cm. The average for these dates is under 10 cm, so we do not give a percentage yet. The average is over twelve winters on the same weather model. Across Japan →

Updated: 10 Nov 2026, 12:15

7-day outlook

Date Weather Snow (cm) Low / high (°C) Wind (km/h)
Tue 10 Nov Cloudy 0 −2 to 3 9
Wed 11 Nov Cloudy 0 −2 to 5 7
Thu 12 Nov Drizzle 0 2 to 13 7
Fri 13 Nov Drizzle 0 7 to 15 22
Sat 14 Nov Drizzle 0 5 to 14 16
Sun 15 Nov Drizzle 0 5 to 13 9
Mon 16 Nov Drizzle 0 −3 to 8 20

Score breakdown

Fresh (48h) 0/40
Forecast (24h) 0/25
Snow quality 4/20
Wind 10/10
Base 0/5

The five add up to the 100-point Powder Score: more fresh snow, more on the way and colder air all push it up. How we measure

Hanawa is built for competition: Alpine, cross-country and ski jumping events can all be held in the one area. It has normal-hill and medium-hill jumps and has hosted FIS giant slalom races. From the hot-spring bath at the Alpas training centre at the base, you look out over the slopes. Sources: city.kazuno.lg.jp, alpas.jp (sources read 13 Oct 2026; an AI draft the site operator has not yet checked)

Weather models read low in the mountains: a Japan Meteorological Agency station 5 km away measured 505 cm a winter over the last three seasons, against 290 cm from the model.

Runs and lifts

Counted from the runs and lifts drawn on OpenStreetMap, within the boundary of the ski area. These are not the resort’s own published figures.

Marked runs
4
Run length
3.6km
Lifts
3
Vertical
488m
Top 744 m · base 256 m

Run map

EasyIntermediateAdvanced Lift
North is up. Runs are coloured by difficulty; black lines are lifts.
Run map

Drag to move around, and use + and − to zoom. On a phone, swipe to move and pinch to zoom in further.

Slope shape, difficulty and lift types

The shape of the mountain

Longest run on the map1.4 km
Steepest pitch28°measured over at least 30 m
Average gradient of the runs15.5°

Which way the slopes face

North 65%
East 0%
South 0%
West 35%

65% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east; plenty of the terrain faces the sun as well, so the lean is modest.

By difficulty

Easy 2 · 1.3 km
Intermediate 1 · 1.4 km
Advanced 1 · 0.9 km

Lift types

  • Chairlift3

See past trail maps on Skimap.org ↗

Source: OpenSkiMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0). How finely ski areas are drawn varies by region, so treat the counts as indicative. Vertical is the difference between the highest and lowest points of the mapped runs and lifts.

How much snow it gets

Modelled from weather data the same way at all 3,069 ski areas we cover. These are not the resort’s own published figures.

Seasonal snowfall
263cm
per season
Worst of 12 winters
182cm
The middle winter of the 12: 263 cm. The best: 334 cm.
World rank
657
of 3,069 worldwide
Rank in country
173
of 397 in Japan
Elevation rank
291
Highest to lowest, of 397 in Japan. The centre point sits at 396 m, 370 m below the national median.
Quality rank
194
of 397 in Japan
Temp when snowing
−3.6°C
Japanese median: −3.6°C
Rain days
19%
Japanese median: 16%
Days over 5 cm
16%
Japanese median: 15%
Wind when snowing
22km/h
Average daily peak, 10 m above ground across a model grid cell; not the wind on ridges or lift tops
Dryness 40
Frequency 46
Freedom from rain 51
Calm when snowing (model grid) 92

The tick marks the median across every Japanese ski area we measure. All four bars run the same way — longer is better.

The quality score leaves out how much snow falls (it uses temperature, frequency, rain and wind).

Compared with what is nearby

Within 50 km in a straight line. Ski areas in the same weather-model cell (about 30 km across) get the same figure.

Ski areaDistanceSeasonal snowfallWorld rank
Tayama Ski Area (Hachimantai City)12.0 km265 cm643
Akita Hachimantai Ski Area23.0 km437 cm122
Appi Kogen25.0 km377 cm211
Soyumura 229 Ski Land29.0 km176 cm1356
Okunakayamakogen Ski Area32.0 km185 cm1281

Compare side by side with Tayama Ski Area (Hachimantai City) and Akita Hachimantai Ski Area →

When it falls, and how winters differ

Month by month

The most snow falls in January. March brings 57% of January’s snowfall.

74cm
Dec
81cm
Jan
62cm
Feb
46cm
Mar
Average snowfall by month, last 12 winters

Winter by winter

Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 263 cm, and 6 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 182 cm; the biggest was 2017/18 with 334 cm (1.8 times as much).

240
182
265
334
253
279
201
273
260
259
292
318
14/1515/1616/1717/1818/1919/2020/2121/2222/2323/2424/2525/26

Snowfall each winter (December–March total). The dashed line is the average; the numbers mark the leanest and the biggest winter.

How these figures are made

What was actually measured nearby

Total snowfall from December to March recorded at the 鹿角 weather station — 5 km from this ski area, 367 m below its mid-slope.

Three-season average505 cm
2023/24392 cm
2024/25567 cm
2025/26557 cm

The figure calculated on this page is 290 cm.

A weather station is not a ski slope. We picked one at a similar elevation, but it stands in a valley or a village. More snow falls on the mountain above it. We have not tried to guess how much more.

Source: Japan Meteorological Agency historical records

Worth seeing nearby

Within 20 km in a straight line, nearest first. Some lie over a pass that is closed in winter.

Show the list
PlaceTypeDistance
Yuze Onsen湯瀬温泉Hot spring town6.7 km
Historic Sites Osarizawa Mine史跡 尾去沢鉱山Mountain6.8 km
Ōyu Stone Circles大湯環状列石Historic site10.1 km
大湯温泉 (鹿角市)Hot spring town12.4 km
Towada-Hachimantai National Park十和田八幡平国立公園Nature13.2 km
Nanataki Falls七滝Nature19.6 km

Chosen from the places most read about on Wikipedia, favouring those with an English article. Based on the Japanese Wikipedia lists of sights in each prefecture, as compiled in travel-log-data (CC BY-SA 4.0). English names from Wikidata (CC0). The content of this section is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Map

The weather map, and where it sits among nearby ski areas.

Official piste map ↗

Going with children

Kids’ area
Not checked
Childcare
Not checked
Parking
Yes (details in Japanese on the official site)
Rental
Not checked

Checked on the official site (13 Oct 2026) · Source. “Not checked” means we have not looked yet. Compare with other ski areas →

Places to stay nearbyPR

Contains advertising. Property names and Rakuten Travel’s booking pages are in Japanese.

8 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within about 3 km of this ski area. The table shows the nearest 8 with a listed price.

Property (links to Rakuten Travel)Lowest listed (per person, tax incl.)RatingDistanceGetting there
ホテルガーデン かわむら ¥7,7003.24/5 192 reviews3.3 kmJR鹿角花輪駅から徒歩7分 東北自動車道 鹿角八幡平ICより5分
感動鹿角パークホテル ¥8,0004.26/5 456 reviews3.4 km鹿角花輪駅から徒歩5分 鹿角八幡平ICより車で7分
ホテル茅茹荘 ¥5,3003.95/5 227 reviews3.5 km◇鹿角花輪駅徒歩1分◇東北自動車道鹿角八幡平ICより15分◇
民宿 あんべ ¥5,0004.33/5 18 reviews4.8 kmJR花輪線 八幡平駅より徒歩0分
四季彩り 秋田づくし 湯瀬ホテル ¥12,8004.60/5 2243 reviews6.7 km東北道【鹿角八幡平IC】から車で10分JR盛岡駅から高速バスで73分(湯瀬パーキング下車)【大館能代空港】から車で1時間
亀の井ホテル 秋田湯瀬 ¥6,0604.06/5 968 reviews6.8 km東北道:鹿角八幡平IC車約10分。電車:JR湯瀬温泉駅徒歩3分(東北自動車道湯瀬PA、JR湯瀬温泉駅、予約送迎有)
Pick dates and guests to check rooms on Rakuten Travel

Prices are the lowest Rakuten Travel lists; a property name, or “Pick dates and guests” above, shows prices and rooms for your dates.

Contains advertising. Property names and Rakuten Travel’s booking pages are in Japanese. · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)

Places to stay on the map

4 places within 12 km of the slopes, as mapped on OpenStreetMap, many of them small inns and pensions. Many are not on booking sites — open the name for the website or the map.

Nearest: 3.3 km

Show the nearest places

Nearest first

Accommodation data: OpenStreetMap

Other booking sites: Booking.com ↗ · Agoda ↗ · Rakuten Travelad ↗

“ad” marks links that pay us a commission if you book. Links without it are not affiliated.

Guides covering Akita

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